


Chino Visits Konoha

by AgenderArcee



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 07:02:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14806596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgenderArcee/pseuds/AgenderArcee
Summary: Someone drops in on the Uchiha household, and Sarada gets an interesting new perspective on her dad. Inspired by the anime adaptation of Sasuke Shinden.





	Chino Visits Konoha

“Oh, hi there! Is Sasuke-chan home?”

Sarada blinks, still holding the door to her house open. “S-Sasuke- _chan_ …? …Who are you?”

The woman in front of her pouts and raises an eyebrow. “Whaaat, you don’t remember your Auntie Chino?”

She has blonde hair and violet eyes. Her voice is high and childlike, and she’s only a little taller than Sarada, but she has wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. And she’s wearing a Hidden Mist forehead protector over her brow, along with that village’s standard flak jacket.

Sarada doesn’t really know what to do here. Luckily, before she has to make a decision, her mother is behind her, smiling. “Ah, Chino-chan!” she says. “It’s been too long! I’m afraid Sasuke-kun isn’t here, though. Would you like to come in for tea?” 

Chino’s grin is so wide and bright that Sarada can’t help finding it disarming. The more she looks at this woman, something does begin to seem familiar. She steps aside as Chino bows and enters the Uchiha household, removing her sandals. 

Sarada is startled by a hand on her head, ruffling her hair affectionately. “My, my, you’ve gotten so big! I’m jealous! Sakura-chan must be keeping you well-fed, I’m so glad!” Part of Sarada is annoyed at being treated like a kid, but this Chino has a surprising warmth around her for a Kiri-nin, and she’s embarrassingly cute when she smiles, so it’s hard to hold a grudge.

Sarada’s mom leads them to sit down on the couch. “Sarada, do you remember Chino-san? You were so young the last time she was here, just two or three I think! Ahh, you were such a little handful back then…” She smiles teasingly and walks to the kitchen to start the tea. 

“ _Mom_ …!” Sarada whines, blushing. She shakes her head and tries to change the subject, turning to Chino. “Um, Chino-san, it’s good to meet you again. I apologize for not remembering. How do you know my parents?”

Chino’s smile this time is wistful, her eyes a little distant as she looks away. “Oh, your dad is an old friend, so I’ve visited a couple times when I’ve been passing by the village.”

“Dad… has friends?” Sarada asks skeptically.

Chino throws back her head and laughs at that. “Well, something like that. He’d probably never admit it, though.” She skootches close to Sarada and cups a hand to her mouth, as though telling a secret. “He’d be mortified to hear me say it, but I think Sasuke-chan has made friends all over the world.”

Sarada thinks about her dad: his near-permanent frown, his allergy to showing affection; his tendency to blatantly ignore people who speak to him, and when he does speak, to do it as though he can only use a handful of words per day and has to ration them carefully. Sarada doesn’t really mind that much herself – she feels like she gets it, now that they’ve spent some time together? He’s just like that, and it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. But still, she can’t imagine him making friends around the world. He can barely manage to express affection for his own wife and child, though he does try sometimes, bless him.

Chino laughs again, seeming to pick up on Sarada’s train of thought. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s not what you’d call _friendly_ ,” she says. She pauses and turns away, her smile getting smaller but not going away. She gets that distant look in her eye again, and it seems as though she’s remembering something both happy and sad. “But he can be surprisingly kind. Even to people who might not deserve it.”

Sarada is staring now. transfixed. This feels different from the way her mom or Lord Seventh talks about her dad. It’s not that unconditional, almost irritatingly forgiving love; and it’s not the way some of her friends’ parents talk about him, the begrudging acceptance laced with tacit disapproval.

“Your dad… I don’t know everything about him. He’s certainly not the type to spill out his feelings,” she says, with a small smile that seems fond, and also a little exasperated. “But I know he’s gone through a lot of pain, and made a lot of mistakes. So he’s able to understand some of the people in this world who are hurting the most. And he knows how much it means for someone to know what you’ve done and still care about you, even when you’ve tried to reject them.” She turns back to Sarada, and smiles. “So that’s why I know he can’t help making friends, even though he doesn’t want to.”

Sarada can feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. She’ll still never totally forgive her dad for being away for so long, but it does help to know that he’s made this kind of difference to people while he’s been gone. It actually makes her think of the way Lord Seventh had comforted her, how he’d inspired her to be like him, to be a person who can care for those who feel alone. It’s weird to imagine her dad could do that too, in his totally un-Naruto-like way. But it’s nice to think about, too. Sarada moves her glasses out of the way and rubs at her eye with the heel of her palm. “Chino-san…”

“Call me Auntie Chino,” Chino says firmly. “I never had a family of my own, you know, so when I found out about you, I jumped at the chance to cheat my way in.” She cackles, and Sarada smiles.

“Okay, Auntie Chino.”

**Author's Note:**

> chino good. im glad she's out hunting down human traffickers for kiri, you're doing amazing sweetie


End file.
